MacKenzie Scott says her college roommate lent her $1,000 to keep her from dropping out—and now inspires her to give away billions

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Over the past few years, MacKenzie Scott has been among the most generous philanthropists, and a college experience might help explain why. 

After her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Scott received a significant number of shares she earned by helping build the e-commerce giant in its early days—when she contributed to business plans and contracts. At the time of their split, Scott held a stake in Amazon equal to roughly 139 million shares. 

Since 2020, Scott has sold or donated about 58 million shares. The philanthropist remains today, even after giving through her 2022-founded philanthropic platform, Yield Giving. Yield Giving has supported thousands of organizations focused on issues like DEI, education, disaster recovery, and more. 

Just this fall, she donated well over $400 million to several education- and DEI-focused organizations—many of which received the largest gifts in their histories. 

Scott recognizes the value and need for support, especially during a person’s early, formative years. After all, she once had to borrow money from her college roommate when she was struggling. 

“These ripple effects make imagining the power of any of our own acts of kindness impossible,” Scott wrote about giving in an Oct. 15 essay published on her Yield Giving . “Whose generosity did I think of every time I made one of the thousands of gifts I’ve been able to give? 

“It was the local dentist who offered me free dental work after seeing me fix a broken tooth with denture glue in college. It was the college roommate who found me crying and acted on her urge to loan me $1,000 to keep me from dropping out my sophomore year.” 

After graduating from Princeton University, Scott became a talented novelist—shaped by none other than Toni Morrison’s teaching. In 2005, she published her debut novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, which won an American Book Award in 2006. Morrison called the book “a rarity: a sophisticated novel that breaks and swells the heart.” 

Her Princeton roommate saw the difference that $1,000 gift made in her life, and that inspired her roommate to start a company 20 years later that offers loans to low-income students without a cosigner. 

That roommate was Jeannie Ringo Tarkenton, who went on to found Funding U. The organization has provided $80 million in low-interest loans to about 8,000 students needing help paying for college, including Princeton. When asked about how she changed Scott’s life, Tarkenton stays humble. 

“I’ve always said she would have graduated without that kindness—just like most of the thousands of kids I help, since they’re hardworking people who try to figure things out,” Tarkenton told Princeton Alumni Weekly. “But small graces everywhere add up—or big ones, when it comes to MacKenzie’s [giving].” 

A version of this story was published on on November 16, 2025.

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